And the Winner Is...

And the Winner Is...

Korilynn Grady
Mrs. Fiester
Composition 1
5 April 2010
“And the winner is…”
In a world where the only accepted outcome is winning, how can anyone expect to develop an appreciation for the journey of learning? In our culture, we can forget that winning is not always everything and you actually learn more from your mistakes than your successes. Winning and losing are essential themes in the film Little Miss Sunshine. Although there are many changes in the characters throughout the film, Richard, Olive, and Frank’s idea of winning and losing transforms drastically.
Richard Hoover based his entire life on The Nine Step Program for Successwhich ironically accomplished anything but success. Richard forced the idea that winning was the only thing that mattered onto his family and everyone close to him. He got so caught up in not becoming a loser that he actually began tearing apart his own family. At one point, he even tries to discourage Olive from entering the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant unless she truly believes she can win. Richard begins turning around when he finally accepts the fact that his nine step program is a failure because no one knows who he is. He makes a complete turnaround when he decides to stop “refusing to lose” and joins Olive on stage during her dance routine at the pageant. Even though she not only losing, but also being kicked off the stage, Richard decides to join her and show support for his daughter.
The very first scene of the movie shows Olive watching Miss America being crowned. She continuously rewinds the tape to watch it over again and imaginesherself as that beauty queen winning the pageant. As soon as you begin watching the film, you are aware that Olive’s biggest dream is to win a beauty pageant. Throughout the entire film she practices every chance she gets with the help of her grandfather. By the time the Hoover family arrives in California, they have overcome many obstacles to help Olive fulfill her dream of...